Project Highlights

Oregon Heritage was awarded a grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for an Oregon Connecting to Collections (OC2C) project to support archives, libraries and museums in collections care and disaster preparedness. The project includes three components:

Heritage MentorCorps

Resource WebsiteStatewide Training

Heritage MentorCorps

A statewide network of volunteers trained in collections care and emergency management work directly with Oregon museums, libraries and archives to improve the care of cultural artifacts and prepare for emergencies.

MentorCorps members provide consulting, mentoring and training on these topics in ways that meet the needs of the 1,000 cultural heritage organizations in Oregon.

Mentors' experience ranges from graduate students to retired heritage executives with decades of experience. Mentors will be with organizations in their region of the state. All nonprofit and government archives, libraries and museums will be able to access the free service.

"We appreciate the mentors giving these organizations directly skills and knowledge," said Heritage Commission coordinator Kyle Jansson. "In the process of helping organizations, the mentors are also indirectly supporting the heritage of their own communities and regions."

Form information on requesting a mentor for an organization, visit the Heritage MentorCorps website.

Resource Website

A website is being developed to help people access informatin about collections care and emergency preparedness. Take a look.

In addition, you can use a Pocket Response Plan for your organization to prepare for responding and recovering from disasters, both small and large. A special financial incentive is being offered to organizations that complete a Pocket Response Plan by July 1.

Contact Information

Details

An artifact at Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Park.

The Oregon Heritage MentorCorps , the trainings and the website will assist archives, museums and libraries in the state with collections care and emergency management. In addition, the Oregon Heritage Commission is appointing two dozen statewide preservation leaders to an advisory group to plan and strategize on initiatives to preserving heritage collections.

The Connecting to Collections Project planning group had found that more than half of the archives, libraries and museums in Oregon had no paid staff for preservation, and that 25 percent of heritage institutions have no funds allocated to preservation. In addition, 85 percent of the institutions do not have a disaster preparedness plan that is current and ready to be activated.

Its final Needs Assessment Report was made following public meetings, an online survey and a summit involving leaders of statewide archive, library and museum organizations.

In 2006, the Heritage Health Index identified millions of items in the nation's museums, libraries and other cultural institutions that were in danger due to neglect, poor environmental conditions, lack of training, and other causes.